Kirottu
by Black Wing of Death
Summary: Five years of peace did nothing to change their feelings or who they were. When love came, they excepted. When an old enemy returned, they refused to head warning. When betrayal was in their mists, no one understood what it meant to truly die.
1. Alku

**Final Fantasy -- Advent Children**

Pairing -- Cloud/Vincent, Sephiroth/Cloud

Setting -- Five years after AC

Rating -- R

Warnings -- Angst, bad language, sexual content, the usual evilness

Disclaimer -- I don't own nor make a profit from any of these characters

Summery --

Five years of peace did nothing to change their feelings or who they were. When love came, they excepted. When an old enemy returned, they refused to head warning. When betrayal was in their mists, no one understood what it meant to truly die.

* * *

No one expected this to be true; no one had anticipated the destruction that was upon us now. We did not want him to return. The silver haired demon. The one with a sadistic mind, a tortuous being, and a desire for making my life horrible. He had taken everything away from me, everything that I had come to love. Including my precious, fragile life.

Looking at that face for the last time, I knew from the beginning that life never lasted. I had seen many die around me, by either my hand or a friend's hand. It was coming to an end for me today. How ironic. I had taken so many lives in the past, so many that I cannot even count them any more. It was this demon who's life I had also taken, yet here he was, going to end my own life today. I was the 'Hero' of the world, and I knew I didn't have it in me to finish this battle, to kill the man standing over me now.

Hell. It was all his fault! Friends, a girlfriend, even a true love were taken from me by this bastard. My life was turned into hell each and every time the silver haired ex-SOLDIER reared his ugly face in life. Yet, my friends, those who I cared for, the pain was nothing compared to what was taken from me now. I would have taken Death over what he did to me. Soon, that wish would be granted, that I knew.

It had been three months since I last seen my heart. For three months, I had been along with this demon. No one knew. No one expected this to be true, so I never told them. Sure, they had a feeling something was up at the beginning, but after the first four weeks, no one dared to interfere in the sick ritual that had become my life. My life was cut down to three minutes now. I had three minutes to tell this bastard three words that I would never be able to say again. After three minutes, Death would finally answer my pleas.

My mind was running wild. It wasn't about my decision, which I had already made, but about this last year. A year that could not have been better, a year that started out with a sign completely missed. A sign that would have hinted that my life and the dream I was living (for it truly did feel like a dream) would be coming to a cold and sharp ending. Oh, how I wish I could just relive those moments again and forget that this moment wasn't here.

* * *

There was that phone again. Looking away from the stars, a blond allowed a weak sigh to escape his full lips. Glancing to the stars again, a pale hand reached behind him. Feeling along the leather of the seat, the cold metal brushing against his arm in the process, lithe fingers finally grabbed the vibrating machine. Leaning away from the parked bike, the male didn't even look at the number to know who it was from.

"Cloud? Finally you answer!" The voice that came from the other end, the motherly voice that seemed to always have something behind it, was from only one other person. The only person who would have the guts to call him this late at night.

"Tifa." The blond stated calmly, not even paying attention as he looked around. He was only a few minutes from the city, being on the cliff that over looked the town where Tifa was calling from. It wouldn't be that hard to get down if needed. It was a prime place to think, as well. Being far enough from the city that he didn't have to think about what laid below. It was also where memories came to him freely. Dangerous memories at that.

"We have a problem. You need to meet up at the Forbidden City. Something is going on there and we need you to check the area for any sign of wrong doings." Tifa stated, clearly repeating someone else who more than likely tried to get a hold of Cloud at the bar and failed. At least the message got across, Tifa wouldn't be blamed if Cloud didn't complete this mission. Yet, it gave the blond something to do, something to occupy his time.

"Who?"

"No mention of who you are meeting up with. We can guess, but even Rufus doesn-" Cloud closed the phone, wanting to throw the machinery away. Instead, he pocketed the cell and looked towards the stars. Rufus was sending him on yet another mission. This time, it was possible that he would be seeing an old friend. Then again, it might just be a long shot.

Taking out the phone again, Cloud scanned through the missed messages, finding Rufus' and letting it play. "Cloud. There are reports of creatures in the Forbidden City. I need you to make sure these reports aren't true. If they are, it is said that they are located around the church there. Do not engage until you have backup. Chances are, these beasts are mako infected. That is all we know. Report when you have more information."

Moving from ground to bike, Cloud closed the phone and took off. His night was ruined by yet another mission. This time, sounding worse than the others he had been running lately. Backup. There was a high possibility that a friend he had not seen for some time, five years to be exact, would be there and waiting.

Five years. It had been five years since he had to save the world from a silver haired bastard, Sephiroth. A few weeks after that, once all of the damage was taken care of, many of his friends departed. They had their own lives away from Edge. A life that took them either far from the town or kept them close in case of trouble. Any one of them could be there, but there was only one person that Cloud could trust his life with. Hopefully, the raven haired gunner would be there. Hopefully, Vincent Valentine would be there. Knowing this mission, it would take both of them in order to get anything figured out.

* * *

Thanks to the following people: Deo, Luna and Sothis. The ideas for this story came from a roleplay between Deo and myself, so the ideas are original. Luna and Sothis, my editors for the story, also helped out.

The first chapter of Kirottu is up and ready for R 'n R.

Flames, advice, anything is all taken with love and appreciation.

The names of the chapters, the name of the story itself even, come from the Finnish language.

Alku means beginning, a fitting word for the first chapter.


	2. Ystava

Chapter two -- Ystava

* * *

It was a strange feeling. Something was wrong, something was off. The forest was always strange, the city even more so. There was something here, something that would lead to this feeling. That something was the reason he was here. He was told to scout this area, to figure out what was going on here. There was a reason why he was here and not someone else.

Looking around, it was obvious why he was called here. The city held a strange air to it, even at the edge. It wasn't the fact that the city was in ruins, nor was it the fact that no one figured out what happened here so many years ago but it was the fact that there was something wrong here. That something was not a major problem but a problem caused from an unknown source. That was the reason why he was here.

Moving from roof top to roof top, red eyes glanced around as long black hair floated around his person. A red cloak, torn from many years past, danced on the soft blowing breeze. Though the movement was quick, there was hardly any sound from the golden foot. Finally stopping, a golden hand ran through the wild hair, pulling it away from his partially hidden face.

With a sigh, this handsome male headed towards the forest. There might be some more clues hidden in those glowing woods. The male, properly named Vincent, had been here for only two days. He had figured where the rumors were coming from and why he was sent here. There was a rift in the ground. The rift was seeping mako, and a lot of it.

Unlike Cloud, Vincent could not be reached by phone. Vincent could not be found unless he chose to be, which made finding this sniper much harder. Thanks to pure curiosity and chance, Yuffie was able to catch this gunner. Reeve, using the poor girl, had given Vincent the change to investigate the rumors being spread about this place. Thanks to pure curiosity and possibly boredom had Vincent here and figured out the cause of the right and seeping mako.

The dim sounds of a motorbike pulled Vincent out of the slight haze his mind had gotten into. Who would be coming in this direction? There was nothing out here. Climbing up a tree gave him a better fire of the area. Vincent could see the dust trail coming from the bike. Moving towards the edge of the forest, Vincent thought he seen a form he recognized. If anyone would help him out with this mission, Vincent was silently grateful for the presence of the blond.

* * *

The sun was young in the sky, just a few hours after sunrise. Cloud had been traveling through the night without really thinking. There wasn't much he could think about. Safely that was. The past was too hard to think about while driving and what laid ahead was too tricky to start understanding now. He didn't have enough to work with, nor did he want to start figuring out things that would just be rumors instead of the truth.

As the sun lit the way, Cloud could see the forest just on the horizon. It would be another few hours before he came to the forest edge and probably even longer before he got to the city behind it. Going through the forest maybe the longest way to get to the city, but it was the shortest way from Edge. He would have to take another day just to drive around the forest while it only required an hour of solid driving through the thick forest.

As he got closer, Cloud allowed a sigh. This would be either very exciting or a very boring mission. Scouting was never a favorite assignment for Cloud to take up but it was needed. He wouldn't be needed to do more than scout the area and report his findings. What ever was there or what ever caused it would be solved by someone else. Cloud was glad for that, it meant a quicker job for him.

There was a rumor that Cloud had heard during his last delivery. There were people talking about mako being in the city, a large amount of it to be exact. Rufus had mentioned it, more like hinted, but it gave Cloud enough warning.

Within the last year, Cloud had noticed that the problem with the mako in his system wasn't healed like everyone thought. Cloud had his ideas of why but none were accurate. If he would be going into a collection of mako, he would need to be careful. He didn't know just how bad the pain would be, nor could he guess at it. Such was the curse of having mako in your system that just loved to torture the muscles and the healing process.

Pulling the bike to a halt, Cloud looked into the forest. He was still a good half of a mile away from the area he wanted to enter. It wouldn't take to long to right through the forest road in order to get to the city, but he wanted to take a break and collect his mind before entering the forest. He had been here a few times already, and each time was not a happy scenario.

There was movement to his left, drawing his attention not to the bushes but to the trees. Red eyes that normally scared anyone shitless merely caused a slight smile to appear on the blond's lips. There was only one person who had those red eyes, and he was not a demon. Vincent Valentine. The only person Cloud looked up too, who was more like a father than a friend.

As Cloud's eyes moved from Vincent's location to the other parts of the forest, Vincent leapt from the branch he was kneeling on. Walking towards the blonde, it was clear that Vincent was glad to see the blond here. It was also clear that Vincent was surprised to see Cloud here, even if slightly.

"How long have you been here?" Cloud asked, wondering out of pure curiosity. Though he had guessed Vincent would be here, Cloud was shocked that they would both be called in on this mission. It was a good feeling to see Vincent here. The sniper had not been seen since Sephiroth's defeat. To see Vincent here, when the gunner wasn't one to appear unless needed, said something about this mission.

"Two days." The cold and rather distant voice replied as Vincent looked towards the forest. "The rumors are true." Great. This would be fun. There was a mako field here somewhere. Opening the sword compartments in the bike, Cloud pulled out his favorite two swords. Getting off the bike, Cloud looked towards Vincent again. It was a true relief that Vincent had been here that long. It meant that Vincent had already scouted the area and found the problems as well as safe places to rest.

"What?" Cloud soon realized he had been staring longer than normal and had been caught admiring Vincent.

"It has been five years, and you still have not changed." It was a joke, causing them both to smile. Of course Vincent hadn't changed but there was another meaning behind it. Cloud was glad to see Vincent again, and the feeling was mutual. Even if not mentioned, Cloud knew it was true just be bow Vincent was acting now. Not heading off as soon as he knew who was entering these woods.

Without anything further, the two headed towards the path Cloud was planning on taking. Since Vincent had met the blond outside of the forest, Cloud had no reason to bring his bike along. There was no need for the speed that the bike offered. Everything Cloud needed was on his person now, and if he needed anything, the bike would still be there.

It was the change in the temperature that alerted Cloud that they were entering the forest. The trees glowed almost warmly as the two traveled towards the city in welcomed silence.

* * *

Thanks to the following people: Deo, Luna and Sothis. The ideas for this story came from a roleplay between Deo and myself, so the ideas are original. Luna and Sothis, my editors for the story, also helped out.

The second chapter of Kirottu is up and ready for R 'n R.

Flames, advice, anything is all taken with love and appreciation.

The names of the chapters, the name of the story itself even, come from the Finnish language.

Ystava means friend, a fitting word for the second chapter.


End file.
